Today, another sign of just how vulnerable investment markets are appeared. The NASDAQ shut down for more than three hours, bringing many trades to a halt and hearkening back to the "flash crash" of May 2010, when the Dow fell nearly 1,000 points due to an incorrect shutdown of financial markets. Indeed, not all stocks were completely in lockdown. Some stocks, including Apple (AAPL) continued to trade, albeit in a limited fashion.
What went wrong? NASDAQ blames the outage on an inability for its electronic trading system ARCA to connect with the New York Stock Exchange. Basically, the Security Information Processor (SIP) of one place ostensibly failed to connect with the other, causing a standstill in trading information.
While the NASDAQ has failed in the past (it was brought down by squirrels in 1987 and 1994), standstills of any magnitude greatly worry retail investors, regular people who do not have access to high-speed trading algorithms or legions of expert traders. Failed stock exchanges are always worrisome, but it is important to remain calm and vigilant in the event of any mishap. When the next major freeze occurs, just remember that it isn't the first day the financial markets stood still.
Andrew Jabara
President of the E-$tock Club
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
A Summer Miracle: The Resurrection of Facebook
Hello people of Earth, Mars and beyond!
If you have even glanced at the paper or online news, you must have found out that Facebook has shot up in price recently. On Wednesday, June 24th, Facebook (FB) was at a dismal $26.51. At the time of writing, Facebook is over the $37 threshold. More astounding than the 30% rise in share price on June 25th, however, is that the momentum is still strong. Because many people bought stock in FB between the $38-$45 range on its first day of trading, I see the $40 threshold as a true test for momentum. Past that mark, people will either get out of the miserable ride they had endured with Facebook over the past year or will be caught up in the momentum and continue to hold.
Why did Facebook shoot up? The obvious answer lies in earnings. FB blew past expectations, earning a gross income of $1.81 billion, with mobile advertising revenue reaching 41%. Facebook also grew its number of daily active users by 27%, and with monthly mobile active users representing 71% of Facebook's clientele, all the numbers form a beautiful, healthy company. Since FB had been at a "discount" price of $26, everyone jumped in for some profit.
While I "like" this turnaround, the $40 threshold still looms. If Facebook passes it with little difficulty, it has the potential to soar beyond $50 in August.
~Andrew Jabara
President of the E-Stock Club
Disclaimer: The author currently holds a position in Facebook.
If you have even glanced at the paper or online news, you must have found out that Facebook has shot up in price recently. On Wednesday, June 24th, Facebook (FB) was at a dismal $26.51. At the time of writing, Facebook is over the $37 threshold. More astounding than the 30% rise in share price on June 25th, however, is that the momentum is still strong. Because many people bought stock in FB between the $38-$45 range on its first day of trading, I see the $40 threshold as a true test for momentum. Past that mark, people will either get out of the miserable ride they had endured with Facebook over the past year or will be caught up in the momentum and continue to hold.
Why did Facebook shoot up? The obvious answer lies in earnings. FB blew past expectations, earning a gross income of $1.81 billion, with mobile advertising revenue reaching 41%. Facebook also grew its number of daily active users by 27%, and with monthly mobile active users representing 71% of Facebook's clientele, all the numbers form a beautiful, healthy company. Since FB had been at a "discount" price of $26, everyone jumped in for some profit.
While I "like" this turnaround, the $40 threshold still looms. If Facebook passes it with little difficulty, it has the potential to soar beyond $50 in August.
~Andrew Jabara
President of the E-Stock Club
Disclaimer: The author currently holds a position in Facebook.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Mid-June Kiva Repayments Received!
Our two loans on the main Kiva website have again been partially repaid!
Abdel Karim from Lebanon has paid $1.39 back on his loan.
Carolina from the Philippines has paid a very impressive $5.00 back!
In total, that is another $6.39 in on-time repayments!
Abdel Karim from Lebanon has paid $1.39 back on his loan.
Carolina from the Philippines has paid a very impressive $5.00 back!
In total, that is another $6.39 in on-time repayments!
Friday, June 14, 2013
An end-of-school-year post
Well, it has been a long year. As finals wrap up next week, I hope that all members of E-Stock have enjoyed their time in this club.
What have we done? To list a few events:
Loaning on Kiva.com
MarketWatch Spring Competition
Beckman Finance Newsletter
Recycling Program
What events have we seen make the stock market quake? To list another few:
Congress falls off the "fiscal cliff"
The US Presidential Election
Boston Marathon Bombing
For a nice finish to E-Stock: 2012-2013, a few members responded to the question "What commodity are you bullish on?"
"Acai Berries" ~ Courtney Le
"Palm Oil" ~ Emily Ko
"Sugar" ~ Nicholas Partlow
"Corn" ~ Calvin Chen
"Avocados" ~ Marissa Gerchick
What am I bullish on?
"Helium"
Enjoy the summer!
Andrew Jabara
President of the E-$tock Club
What have we done? To list a few events:
Loaning on Kiva.com
MarketWatch Spring Competition
Beckman Finance Newsletter
Recycling Program
What events have we seen make the stock market quake? To list another few:
Congress falls off the "fiscal cliff"
The US Presidential Election
Boston Marathon Bombing
For a nice finish to E-Stock: 2012-2013, a few members responded to the question "What commodity are you bullish on?"
"Acai Berries" ~ Courtney Le
"Palm Oil" ~ Emily Ko
"Sugar" ~ Nicholas Partlow
"Corn" ~ Calvin Chen
"Avocados" ~ Marissa Gerchick
What am I bullish on?
"Helium"
Enjoy the summer!
Andrew Jabara
President of the E-$tock Club
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Our first Kiva Zip repayment!
Hello Everyone,
Therese has paid back $2.09 from our $25 loan to her Training with Gaming business. I am sure that the loan is already being put to good use by making a difference for kids with autism!
Therese has paid back $2.09 from our $25 loan to her Training with Gaming business. I am sure that the loan is already being put to good use by making a difference for kids with autism!
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Kiva Loans are Starting to be Repaid!
We currently have two loans on the main Kiva lending platform:
Abdel Karim is using the money for motorcycle repair in relation to generators in Lebanon. He has repaid 5.52% of the loan or $1.38 so far.
Catalina has continued to buy new products for her store in the Philippines. She has repaid 8% of the loan or $2.00 so far.
That adds up to a grand total of $3.38 we have received back! Good job, members of the E-Stock club, for choosing people who have not only started to pay us back, but are actually paying us back earlier than scheduled!
~Andrew Jabara
President of the E-$tock Club
Abdel Karim is using the money for motorcycle repair in relation to generators in Lebanon. He has repaid 5.52% of the loan or $1.38 so far.
Catalina has continued to buy new products for her store in the Philippines. She has repaid 8% of the loan or $2.00 so far.
That adds up to a grand total of $3.38 we have received back! Good job, members of the E-Stock club, for choosing people who have not only started to pay us back, but are actually paying us back earlier than scheduled!
~Andrew Jabara
President of the E-$tock Club
Friday, May 3, 2013
Recycling Program!
Hello,
The E-$tock Club has partnered with Go-Green Club to start the Beckman Recycling Program! Today was our first collection of cans and bottles from ten recycling bins scattered throughout campus. The result:
+ 
+ 
=
One big trash bag filled! That is not a bad haul for five days and ten bins (three pictured above).
The recycling program has many useful purposes on campus;
First of all, we are helping to clean up campus by providing an outlet for people to "go green" and recycle.
Second, the funds that recycling will give us will be used to fund more loans on Kiva and other future projects.
Finally, this is a great segue into commodities! A commodity is, at its simplest form, a good that meets a want or a need in society. Plastic and aluminum are two commodities, and at the recycling center the base buyback price is currently at $1.07 for PET 1 ("water bottle") plastic and $1.59 for aluminum cans in California. Another interesting thing about commodities is that greater demand can create greater value for them. For example, California law dictates that you can demand to be paid by count on up to 50 items of one type of recyclable object. For example, you could bring in 50 water bottles and be paid $0.05 each (for a grand total of $2.50) if the bottles are under 24 oz. (over 24 ounces will net you $0.10 per item).
Thank you to all who helped make campus a greener place (and put some green into our club accounts). Keep up the good work!
~Andrew JabaraAndrew JabaraAndrew JabaraAndrew JabaraAndrew Jabara
The E-$tock Club has partnered with Go-Green Club to start the Beckman Recycling Program! Today was our first collection of cans and bottles from ten recycling bins scattered throughout campus. The result:
+ + =
One big trash bag filled! That is not a bad haul for five days and ten bins (three pictured above).
The recycling program has many useful purposes on campus;
First of all, we are helping to clean up campus by providing an outlet for people to "go green" and recycle.
Second, the funds that recycling will give us will be used to fund more loans on Kiva and other future projects.
Finally, this is a great segue into commodities! A commodity is, at its simplest form, a good that meets a want or a need in society. Plastic and aluminum are two commodities, and at the recycling center the base buyback price is currently at $1.07 for PET 1 ("water bottle") plastic and $1.59 for aluminum cans in California. Another interesting thing about commodities is that greater demand can create greater value for them. For example, California law dictates that you can demand to be paid by count on up to 50 items of one type of recyclable object. For example, you could bring in 50 water bottles and be paid $0.05 each (for a grand total of $2.50) if the bottles are under 24 oz. (over 24 ounces will net you $0.10 per item).
Thank you to all who helped make campus a greener place (and put some green into our club accounts). Keep up the good work!
~Andrew JabaraAndrew JabaraAndrew JabaraAndrew JabaraAndrew Jabara
President of the E-$tock Club
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